Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It’s only 24 more days until the Dedication of our new church! Can you believe it? Please make sure that you check out the schedule of Dedication Celebration Week activities that has replaced the monthly calendar on the last page of this bulletin. It is going to be a great time and I wouldn’t want you to miss any of the events that you and/or your family might enjoy. Mark your calendars now.

We recently had a “Brown Bag” Sunday in support of our Shepherd’s Gate Food Pantry. I’d like to thank every one who took a bag home and brought it back filled with items for our Pantry. The generosity of this Parish family is truly amazing. I would very much like to take the opportunity to thank Mark and Anita Wojda, who head up our HELP Committee, and Smokey and Anne Marie Medeiros, who head up the Shepherd’s Gate Food Pantry. Both of these amazing couples devote countless hours to our ministry and out-reach to those who are in need. Thanks also to the hundreds of volunteers that it takes to run the Pantry and the HELP Committee. Through our efforts, many are being helped out in their time of need.

I mention all of this now because in the next few weeks we will getting the Thanksgiving Baskets ready to go out and will soon be beginning our preparations for the Christmas Adopt-a-Family program. Again, hundreds of volunteers are going to be needed to help out. It is my sincere hope that YOU will get involved and lend a hand this year. This year, both of these major undertakings, are happening right before and right after the Dedication of our new church. We have several really wild weeks ahead of us. It is extremely important that with the move into the new church and the Dedication Mass and celebrations, that we NOT forget those who depend upon us for their Thanksgiving meal and for their Christmas. We will help more families this year than we ever have. One thing we can do now is to prepare for what we will do in December. In the next few weeks, our Adopt-a-Family Christmas trees will be going up much earlier than usual. This allows us to take care of these folks in advance, and we can get it all done before we even get to the Dedication of the new church. I would ask for your help and cooperation with this. There’s going to be so much going in early December, the more we can do now, the better off we will be then.

I remind all of us that it is the Gospel itself that calls all of us to take care of the poor and to share what we have with those in need. Some Christians treat generosity for the poor as an option, as one of those things that nice people get around to doing. Giving to those in need is a Gospel imperative, not an option. Jesus said that if we dare to say that we love God, then we must be willing to love and care for our neighbors. Sometimes we all forget that. We can all be more generous.

I also have some very good news from our Sport’s Ministry. St. Maria Goretti has added Patrick Biddlecombe to our staff as our first-ever Athletic Director. We welcome Pat on-board and look forward to his leadership in all of our various athletic programs. Pat has extensive experience in running large sport’s programs. I would also like to thank the incredible Mr. Dave Miller, who has served as St. Maria Goretti’s third volunteer Athletic Director. Under Dave’s leadership, our Sport’s Ministry grew and developed beyond all of our dreams. We have more kids involved in more different sport’s offerings then ever before. So much of what has been accomplished is directly connected to all of the hard work that Dave has done in the last couple of years. Dave will stay on to help transition in the next year, including staying on as Sport’s liaison on the Parish Council. I thank all of our coaches and volunteers who work so hard to provide a first-rate athletic program for our young people.

We are still trying really hard to reach every family at St. Maria Goretti as we wrap up our “On This Rock…We Build Our Church” II campaign. If you haven’t had time to make your pledge, please stop by our business office this week and do so. Again, we need everybody’s help to pay for our new church. If you still haven’t pledged yet, what are you waiting for?

That’s about all for this week. Keep praying. God is doing amazing things in our midst.

In Christ,
Fr. Kevin

A poor memory is not the same as a clear conscience.